


Wolves Without Teeth

by quillghost



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Prison, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2015-09-18
Packaged: 2018-04-20 18:17:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,639
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4797464
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quillghost/pseuds/quillghost
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Root tasted like freedom, and when she slammed Shaw into the wall her head hit concrete and Shaw saw stars for the first time in months. Root's hands have snapped necks and Shaw knew this now more than ever as those finger closed around her windpipe. </p>
<p>Root and Shaw behind bars.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Title from the of monsters and men song

Shaw always knew that a life of crime came with the threat of one day being caught, but the threat never really seemed _real_ to her until the bullet hit her knee and she hit the floor.

Maybe it was her ego, growing every time she got away clean from heists that just got bigger and bigger with her growing reputation. She’d made off with jewels that other thieves wouldn’t dream of stealing, gotten out of impossible situation after impossible situation for years and this is how it ends? The heist wasn’t nearly one of her most difficult, getting away wouldn’t have been a problem if one of the new guys on her team hadn’t opened the door and tripped the alarm before she was done disabling it.

Unbelievable. She was about to be caught because of a rookie’s mistake. Working as a part of a team had been hard enough to settle into, learning to put trust into her little band of thieves had been another task entirely. And it had just been a mistake.

Now her knee felt like it was shattered and the cops were approaching fast. Tomas hesitated above her, looking like he wanted to help her but knowing that they’d both get caught if he did.

“Go,” Shaw growled at him, aiming her pistol at the police and firing. The three or so officers she had eyes on ducked outside the entrance of the jewelry warehouse. “I’ll hold them off, get everyone out through the back entrance, now!”

One of the officers returned fire, only narrowly missing Tomas. With one last pained look of remorse, he ran to join the rest of their crew.

 _I’m not dying for a bag of diamonds,_ Shaw thought, glancing at the glittering bastards scattered out on the floor next to her. She put her gun down and pushed it away from her, laying her head back and holding her hands up.

“Alright, alright, you got me,”

Years later, Shaw still remembers the cold feeling of the handcuffs tightening over her wrists as being more painful than the hole in her knee. Pain she could handle, but defeat….

* * *

 

Her lawyers told her she was lucky to go to a medium security penitentiary facility considering her charges of grand theft, among other things. Shaw may have been inclined to agree, but she couldn’t seem to get past the fact that she would be doing 10 to 15 _years_ in a medium security facility.

No, she couldn’t accept it, and she wouldn’t accept it. There was no way in hell she would waste away behind bars until she was well into her forties. She would do whatever it took to get out of that prison and make them regret putting her in anything less than a max security prison. This could just be another situation where she can use people underestimating her because of her size to her advantage.

She was brainstorming ideas before she even saw the prison, but when the bus slowed to a stop and she peered out the window at her new home, her scenarios got a lot more specific. it was a large brick building with white pillars spaced in front of the front entrance and if you took away the barbed wire fences and the watch towers, it sort of reminded Shaw of her high school. She got the feeling the similarities wouldn’t end there.

She and six other prisoners were being ushered in by a guard who’d introduced herself as Carter. Even walking in Shaw already found herself scanning the perimeter for any vulnerabilities; weaknesses in the fence, blind spots in the guard towers, which guards looked easier to take down in a fight. Shaw decided quickly to do what she could to avoid a fight with Carter; the woman was similar in build and had a seriousness in her eyes that wasn’t unlike the one Shaw knew she had in hers, a look that said _don’t fuck with me or you’ll regret it_.

Carter led them through the double doors and Shaw immediately took note of the crowd of inmates that was her welcoming party. More than a few women whistled and checked her out as she walked by and Shaw did her best to stare stoically ahead, although the barest hint of a smile ghosted over her lips. She worked hard for her body and it was nice for it to be appreciated sometimes.

Processing was an uncomfortable experience that had Shaw going to another place in her mind to keep from losing her temper. After that whole ordeal was over and she was dressed in the dark green jumpsuit that the prisoners here wore, she was shown to her room.

Where she’d be staying was less of a room and more of a cage. Two beds attached to opposite walls, a sink and a toilet in the corner. Carter slid the barred door open and jerked her head to indicate it was time for her to go in. Shaw pressed her lips together and stepped into her cage.

Before Carter closed the door Shaw turned to ask, “What, no scary roommate?”

Carter smiled “You’ll get a roommate. And don’t worry, she’ll be plenty scary,”

“Oh really?” Shaw smirked, liking the sound of a challenge.

“Really,” Carter leaned forward conspiratorially and lowered her voice, “I hear they’re sending her down from max,”

Shaw hummed and tilted her head mockingly, “She can’t be that bad if she’s getting out of max now can she?”

Carter just continued to smile knowingly at her through the bars as she pulled the door shut.

The door slammed loudly and as Carter walked away Shaw wondered absently when she’d be able to eat a steak again.

* * *

 

The next time Shaw was reminded of high school was, predictably, lunch hour. The cafeteria could’ve been mistaken for a high school cafeteria, lunch line and all, if it weren’t for the women of all ages in jump suits being watched by guards.

Shaw grabbed a tray and got in line, keeping her chin up and not shying away from eye contact with anyone. The lady behind the counter sloped something that appeared to be mashed potatoes on her tray. She moved down the line and gets a glass of water, some kind of beef stew and a piece of toast. Shaw thought of steak again.

Shaw headed to a table that had three empty seats between her and the next prisoner but before she could sit down a voice from behind stops her.

“Shaw? Sameen Shaw?”

Shaw turned to find the source of the voice belonged to a woman she remembered instantly as one of the most impressive thieves she’d had the pleasure of working with. She hadn’t seen her since they’d stolen some ancient bible together a few years back. Shaw’s eyebrows rose and upon seeing her face, Kelli Lin rushed to her side and pulled her into a hug.

“No touching!” a guard snapped from the corner, to Shaw’s relief.

The separated but Kelli continued to stare happily at her.

“Lin, what the hell are you doing here?” Shaw asked.

The smile fell from her old friend’s face, “I tried to get out of that lifestyle…I made those extortionists more than enough to by my freedom and my daughters. But they wouldn’t…I knew they were never going to let her go.”

Shaw nodded and they both took a seat where Shaw had left her tray.

“My best chance at saving her was to turn them into the police,” she continued, “even if I knew it’d mean ending up here,”

Shaw wondered what that kind of love felt like.

“I’m sorry, Lin,”

“It’s okay,” Kelli said as Shaw deemed it appropriate to start tearing into her food, “as long as she’s alive,”

Shaw made a face the moment she started eating but didn’t slow down.

Kelli caught the look, “I know, it’s disgusting. But it gets easier to eat eventually, once your taste buds start to die out.”

Shaw snorted in response through a mouthful of food. It was disgusting but it had been 24 hours since her last meal.

“Listen, Shaw,” Kelli leaned forward to try to get her attention back, “there’s a group of…women like us in here. Place like this, it’s better to have people to, well, look after you.”

Shaw paused to glance at her, “Like a gang?” she asked around a mouthful of bread.

Kelli didn’t respond and Shaw took that as an answer.

“Okay Lin, look it’s nice to see you again and all but I’d prefer to be on my own in here. I don’t need a prison gang to survive in here,” Shaw was not going to forget any time soon that she was in here because she put too much trust in her team.

Kelli didn’t seem surprised, “Okay Shaw,” she said, standing up, “let me know if you change your mind. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you,”

* * *

 

Over the next few days Shaw focused only on her routine and did her best to keep her distance from the other inmates. The strict schedule consisted of this:

Guards woke the prisoners up at six a.m. Shaw woke up at five to work out the best she could in the small space her cell provided her. They then had until 7:00 to shower and go to the bathroom before they had to be in the dining hall for breakfast.

Breakfast lasted for one dissatisfying hour where Shaw forced herself to eat the portions of tasteless eggs and bread. To make matters worse, after breakfast they reported to work. Shaw’s, because her luck was especially terrible lately, was repairs. Three hours of this and it was off to more tasteless food.

After the lunch hour was up everyone was to report back to their respective jobs for 3 more hours of work. Finally by 4:00 Shaw actually got to go outside for time in the yard. 5:00 was dinner, 6:00 was an anger management circle jerk mandated by the court as a part of her sentence. After she spent an hour and a half sitting in silence and listening to sob stories, it was back to the cell for bed time.

Shaw could not decide which part of the day she hated the most.

* * *

 

To her dismay, even after three days most of Shaw’s time was still spent fixing computers. Or trying to, anyway; she knew absolutely nothing about computers. It was boring, monotonous and frustrating and every day she spent working with them felt longer than the one before. By the time her and the five other inmates assigned to the same job left the musty room, her hands were coated in dust and she was trying not to sneeze for the tenth time.

The hours spent in that room made Shaw almost excited for the next part of her day-her hour outdoors in the yard. Her third day in and she was thirsting for fresh air more than any day before. She filed out a narrow doorway leading to a courtyard with her fellow inmates and sucked in a deep breath of fresh air. She was eying the basketball court when a shoulder slammed into her from behind.

Instantly filled with fury, she whipped her head around to find the source; a tall blond with her hair tied up and a mean smirk on her face.

Before the girl could turn away Shaw grabbed her shoulder and pushed it hard enough so she’d be forced to face her.

The blonde’s smirk twisted into a sneer and she shoved Shaw back, spitting out the words, “Why don’t you keep your hands off me?”

Shaw recovered her balance and quickly stepped into the girl’s space, ignoring the fact that she had to crane her neck a bit to maintain eye contact.

“Why don’t _you_ watch where the fuck you’re going?”

A guard was already on them, a really tall guy with a grim face and greying dark hair, “There a problem here?” he asked when he was close enough for his quiet, raspy voice to reach them both.

When neither of them moved he continued, “Rousseau, Shaw, make another move and I’ll have you both thrown in solitary,”

“This isn’t over,” the woman-Rousseau-said just loud enough for Shaw to hear, “You better watch your back,”

The guard didn’t leave until Rousseau had rejoined the group of inmates she’d been walking with before and Shaw turned her eyes to him.

He only stared for a moment, almost looking like he wanted to say something else, before walking away.

Abandoning her incentive to get her heart rate up with some basketball when Rousseau’s group made their way onto the court, Shaw headed to the table where a deck of cards sat in front of a women sitting by herself instead.

When Shaw rounded the corner of the table and sat down she noticed it was Kelli.

Shaw rolled her eyes, “Hello again, Lin,”

“Shaw,” Kelli acknowledged, shuffling the deck with a small smile.

She dealt Shaw her share and they were a few minutes into a riveting game of blackjack when a hush fell over the inmates.

Shaw looked up at the change in atmosphere and searched for the source.

Most heads were turned towards the woman who’d just walked through the courtyard doors, being escorted by a stocky, curly haired guard eyeing the woman warily. The woman was a tall, willowy brunette eyeing the courtyard with a small smirk on her face, visibly enjoying the attention. The guard said something to her and she didn’t appear to acknowledge the words. He stared at her for a moment before huffing irritably and letting her elbow go, retreating back through the door he’d come out of.

The woman’s eyes were scanning the courtyard slowly, affording each staring inmate a moment of attention. Like she was looking for something.

“Alright, I’ll bite,” Shaw murmured, “Who’s she? Some kind of celebrity?”

Kelli tore her eyes away from the woman long enough to glance at Shaw, “Something like that. I heard rumors she was being transferred here, but I didn’t think they’d be true. High profile criminals like her normally only come here as a stop on the way to max. But someone like _her,_ coming from max…”

Kelli breathed out the last words, and Shaw felt a flutter of….excitement?

“She came from max?” Shaw chuckled, “I think she’s my roommate. It’s about damn time she got here.”

The moment the word’s left her mouth, the famous brunette’s eyes finally settled on her like she somehow heard her words from the other side of the courtyard. Her faint smirk grew into a grin, like she’d found what she was looking for.

Kelli followed the woman’s gaze back to Shaw, who was meeting her eyes unflinchingly.

“God help you,” Shaw heard her say.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know a lot about medication so don't hold me to anything I say on it in this chapter.

The next time Shaw saw the woman from the courtyard was that night, after her anger management when she headed back to her cell.

They arrived at the cell at the same time and Shaw saw her coming from the other side of the hallway. She noted that her walk was sluggish and off-beat and the woman didn’t notice Shaw until they were standing right in front of each other.

“Oh. Hello,” she smiled, blinking rapidly at her for a moment, “You must be my roommate. Lucky me,”

“Cellmate,” Shaw corrected, as a guard came over to unlock the door and pull it open for them, “After you,” Shaw said.

The woman stared at her blankly before going in. Shaw headed straight for the bed and the woman continued to stand in the middle of the cell, looking around.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Sameen,” she said when her eyes settled back on Shaw, “You can call me Root,”

Shaw squinted up at her, “Right. And you can call me Shaw,”

Root took a seat on her bed across from Shaw, tilting her head and staring at Shaw with interest.

“How’d you know my name?” Shaw asked.

“I may have…asked around about you,”

Shaw stared at her until she continued, “You have quite the reputation. I have to say, I’m kind of a big fan,”

“And what do you know about my reputation?”

“Well,” Root stood back up and started wandering around the room, “Your father died when you were young, you started stealing only a few years after that to help support your mother, I assume. I know you went to medical school, which you then dropped out of and that’s when the real fun began. You started the smaller jobs on your own but you knew that the big jobs, the ones that give you the real rush, go much more efficiently when you have a team to help you. You fell in with Tomas Koroa-“

Shaw’s rage grew the longer she let Root talk until she finally cut her off by slamming her into the wall, hand at her throat.

Root didn’t look surprised. Her eyes glinted and Shaw got the feeling that this was exactly the reaction she wanted.

“How the hell do you know that?” Shaw growled.

“I’m good at talking to people,” Root said, her breath ruffling the tendrils of Shaw’s hair that were loose from her hair tie.

Root was still smiling that small, infuriating smile and Shaw tightened her grip to try to wipe it off. It worked, but Root’s eyes grew darker and her hand came up to Shaw’s forearm and she actually _pressed her closer_.

Shaw loosened her grip in surprise and Root made no move to escape.

“You should get used to me, Sameen,” Root’s voice was breathier than before, “We’re going to be spending a lot of time in this room together. Ten to fifteen years, I hear?”

Root knowing her exact sentence was less surprising considering how much she already knew, but no less baffling.

“Please,” Shaw smirked, “I have _no_ intention of spending the next ten years of my life wasting away in here,”

Root was smiling again, “I am so glad you said that. Neither do I.”

“Inmates!” A guard barked from behind, “Hands off!”

Shaw jerked her arm out of Root’s grip and took a step back.

“You good, Coco Puffs?” He asked.

Root sent a dismissive wave to him, “We’re all good in here, Lionel. Just a little misunderstanding.”

Lionel glared at them for a minute longer before walking away.

The lights shut off a moment later, leaving her and Root standing in darkness. Shaw took the hint and got into bed, shutting her mind off the best she could when she knew Root was still watching her. 

* * *

 

It was still dark when Shaw’s internal clock woke her up at five for her work out. Rolling out of bed and stretching, she afforded her cellmate a glance to see that she was sound asleep.

She always started with push-ups, doing 10 reps of 20 and in between reps, she did lunges. She wriggled her toes under the bars of the cell door to do her sit ups and was halfway through her first set of 50 when she heard rustling behind her.

“You need me to hold your feet?” Root asked, her voice rough with sleep but still managing to sound flirty, “That can’t be comfortable,”

Shaw only grunted in response. She was waiting for another comment from Root but instead all she heard was Root getting up, her feet hitting the floor, and retching noises a second later. Shaw paused mid sit up long enough to glance over her shoulder and confirm that she’d made it to the toilet.

“What do they have you on?” Shaw asked, continuing her sit ups.

Root stopped vomiting and was quiet, probably wondering how Shaw knew she was heavily medicated.

“Please, I knew they had you drugged up the second I saw you walking down the hallway,” Shaw clarified.

“A condition of my release from max,” Root took a ragged breath, “more drugs than I can keep track of. You’d think they’re afraid of me or some-” more retching.

Shaw finished her set and sprung up right as the lights came back on. When Carter came and opened the door, Shaw left her cellmate bent over the toilet and headed to the showers. 

* * *

 

Shaw slammed her tray down in the seat across from Kelli, who looked up with a smile.

“Tell me about Root,” Shaw demanded, sitting down.

“Glad to see you survived the night,” Kelli looked amused, “although I suppose if anyone could survive with Root as their cellmate it would be you,”

“Kelli,” Shaw narrowed her eyes.

“ _Shaw,_ ” Kelli said, “I’d like you to meet Claire Mahoney and Kara Stanton,”

Kelli nodded to the other two brunettes at the table. The younger one, Claire regarded her somewhat cautiously and Kara was eyeing her up coolly.

Shaw barely spared them a glance, “Right, right, so anyway…”

Kelli rolled her eyes, “Okay, so, Root is basically the biggest name criminal hacker out there. And not just that, but a killer for higher. She could make just about anyone disappear, including herself. Even I don’t know the specifics about how she was caught since I was already locked up by the time they arrested her but the trial was kind of a big deal. Honestly I can’t imagine how they caught her let alone how they got enough evidence on her to lock her up for life,”

“Alright, so the girl’s good with computers, why is everyone still so afraid of her when she doesn’t have access to one anymore?”

“She’s not just good with computers,” Claire spoke up, “She hacks people just as easily. She didn’t just accept payments for hits and send people out to do her dirty work, she actually did a lot of the hits herself,”

Claire’s voice was gaining excitement the more she talked, “She would assume different identities, sometimes for months at a time just to get close to her marks. She’s as good a killer as she is a hacker,”

“Wow,” Kara grinned, “How cute. Someone’s got a crush,”

Claire’s cheeks burned, either out of embarrassment or fury, “I do not! Look, I’m a hacker too, I only appreciate her…”

“ _Assets_?” Kara teased.

By the time Claire came up with a retort Shaw already tuned her out and started digging into her food.

She didn’t notice the bickering had quieted until someone slid into the seat next to her.

“Hey, roomie,”

Shaw glared at Root, who was smiling brightly at her for someone who’d spent the morning emptying the contents of her stomach.

Shaw went back to eating, but not before she noticed everyone else at the table was staring at Root.

Shaw felt a hand on her knee and heard Root say, “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friends, Sameen?”

Shaw jerked her knee away from the touch so roughly it slammed into the bottom of the table, jostling everyone’s trays.

Shaw grumbled around a mouthful of eggs, “Root, this is Lin, Mahoney and….” She trailed off, frowning at the last woman.

“Stanton,” She supplied irritably.

“Right. Stanton. Everyone… you know what, I’m not going to pretend you don’t know who this is,”

Shaw had done her part and meant to focus back on the food but she couldn’t help but pause at the hilariously star-struck look on Claire’s face.

“Right, you’re Root,” Claire breathed.

There was no response from Root except the sound of her biting noisily into an apple. Kelli was staring at them with interest and Shaw did her best to ignore everyone but Root’s chewing was distractingly loud in her ear and she finally had to turn to tell her to keep it down.

When Shaw turned her head, however, Root’s mouth was suddenly so close to hers that Shaw forgot what she was going to say. She stared blankly at Root’s lips before meeting her eyes. Root was watching her eat with rapt attention. Shaw glared and went back to eating, trying to ignore the little psycho staring at her.

Eventually the conversation returned to the table, with the exception of Shaw focusing on her food. She wasn’t focused enough to not notice Root still sneaking glances at her while nibbling at her own plate. Shaw finished in a few minutes and sat back, frowning at her empty tray.

“Still hungry?” Root asked.

Shaw hummed and Root pushed the remains of her half eaten portions towards her. Shaw only hesitated for a moment.

“The meds are kind of killing my appetite, it’s okay,” Shaw was already eating before Root even finished her sentence.

Kelli was staring at them again with a small smile on her face. Shaw pretended she didn’t notice.

By the time Shaw looked up again, Root was gone. 

* * *

 

Root had an appointment with her counselor before she got to report to her _fascinating_ job in the laundry room. It was no surprise that she was assigned to the one job where she had no access to anything she could turn into a weapon.

She’d have to see what she could do to change that.

The placard on the door read Harold Finch and Root didn’t bother knocking before strolling in.

Harold, a dorky looking guy in glasses, looked up at her, quickly masking his flash of surprise with a more serious expression.

“Samantha Groves, I assume?”

“Call me Root,” She responded automatically, taking a seat in the chair in front of his desk.

“Yes, I’ve heard quite a bit about you recently,” Harold reached into his desk drawer and pulled out what must’ve been her file, “You’ve just transferred from max, how are you finding your accommodations so far?”

“They’re delightful,” Root said sincerely, grinning.

Harold looked uncomfortable, as people often did when she smiled at them. “That’s good to hear. Now, I know they have you on quite the strong dosage but I’ve gotten you approved to be switched to a lighter prescription,”

He go up and sort of hobbled to one of his cabinet’s and pulled out several translucent orange prescription bottles and a bottle of water. While he was rustling around in the cabinet Root heard movement coming from the side go his desk. She leaned over the side of her chair and noticed a dog, sitting up and staring at her inquisitively. She raised her eyebrows at the dog and his tongue rolled out and he panted happily at her. _Bear,_ his collar read.

Harold came back around to stand next to her and began placing her doses on the desk in front of her. She reluctantly pulled her focus away from the dog.

“Right now we’re starting with 10 milligrams of diazepam, half the amount of lithium you were taking before…” He prattled on, laying pill after pill in front of her,

It was less than she had before, but it was still enough to keep her from thinking clearly. Her last hope was that Harold wouldn’t make her take them in front of her.

He placed the water down last.

“…and I do apologize, Miss Groves, but I’ve been instructed to see that you take these before you leave my office,” He at least had the decency to look sympathetic.

Root sighed and uncapped the water bottle, getting to work on the pills. There was a knock on the doorway behind her and she turned to see who it was.

A guard she’d seen before, John Reese. He looked uncomfortable in the doorway, “Uh, sorry to interrupt, Finch, I can come back later…”

Finch’s attention was stolen away long enough for Root to slip the remaining pills into her pocket. When he turned back to her she was drinking the water like she was washing them down.

“That won’t be necessary, Mr. Reese. Miss Groves and I were just finishing up,” Harold turned his attention fully back to her, “Please let me know if you have any other concerns,”

“Will do, Harold,” Root smiled up at him before slipping out of her chair and out the door.

The pills she did take still had her feeling sick and the overwhelming smell of laundry detergent she had to endure over the next few hours was the worst kind of torture-the kind she couldn’t enjoy.

Root left her cellmate alone during lunch, opting instead to eat by herself and get a feel for the inmates she would be spending her time with. Everyone was interesting enough to watch but she found her eyes straying to Shaw on more than one occasion and was more than a little disappointed when those eyes never once looked back at her.

She forced down enough food to get her through the rest of the day before heading back to work. After another few painstaking hours it was time for some yard time.

Breathing the somewhat fresh air of the prison yard came as a relief and Root prayed to a god she didn’t believe in for her stomach to settle. Vomiting into the nearest trashcan wouldn’t be good for her prison rep.

She immediately caught sight of Shaw on the basketball court, playing rather aggressively with some of the larger, more intimidating inmates. Root decided that the game was by far the most interesting thing happening in the yard and went over to a bench to watch.

Shaw was much too focused on her game to notice Root sitting on the sidelines and so she took her time to appreciate it when Shaw peeled off the top of her jumpsuit so it hung around her waist to reveal the plain white wife beater underneath. The other inmates had done the same, since the sun was beating down pretty hard this afternoon.

Root also recognized Stanton on the court, playing on the same team as Shaw. She didn’t have to watch them for long to deduce that they made a lethal team. Stanton was focused on actually scoring points and Shaw seemed content to rough up anyone who tried to prevent that from happening. She was shoulder checking people, discreetly tripping them, elbowing them sharply in the ribs.

It was very amusing to watch and Root couldn’t believe how much Shaw was getting away with; the guards tended to intervene if inmates so much as looked at each other funny. Root surveyed the courtyard and noted that Carter and Fusco were on duty. Both had their attention on the court but they merely looked amused. Carter was at least trying to be discreet about it but Fusco looked like he was on the verge of cheering.

Root returned her attention to the game in time to see Stanton score another goal at the same time Shaw sent someone else sprawling on the concrete. Root bit back a smile that fell away shortly after someone slipped onto the bench next to her.

The blonde woman was smiling faintly at her, “Root, right? I heard you were being transferred here,”

Root regarded her quietly and she continued, “I’m Martine Rousseau. I’ve heard a lot about your work, it’s quite impressive,”

“Well, I’m flattered,” Root smiled placating, glancing back at Shaw to find her staring at them. Root’s smile turned sultry and Shaw held her gaze until someone shoulder checked _her,_ and her attention was pulled away.

Root turned her attention back to Martine.

“I wanted to let you know that my services are available to you,” she continued and Root rose an eyebrow, “I have a lot of connections in here and I can make life easier for you if you let me,”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Martine,” Root said.

Martine smiled tightly at her and responded, “Well, I’ll leave you to your…entertainment. It was good to finally meet you, Root,”

Once she was gone, Root wondered how a medium penitentiary ended up with so many murderers. She knew the type when she saw one, and Martine was definitely a killer.

She could prove to be a useful asset in what Root had planned.

* * *

 

When Shaw got back to their cell that night Root was already lounging on her bed, with her head propped up on her hand like she’d been waiting for her in that pose. Shaw took in the sight of her as discreetly as possible; the tousled hair, dark eyes, the creamy expanse of skin and the beginning of cleavage that was revealed by the undone top buttons of her jumpsuit. And was that lipstick?

“What were you doing with Rousseau before?” Shaw asked bluntly, tearing her eyes away from Root’s breasts. It was too late, she was already smirking smugly at her.

“Why? Jealous?”

Shaw scoffed, “Please,”

“No need to worry Sameen, blonde’s aren’t really my type,”

Shaw changed her undershirt and jumpsuit, feeling the burn of Root’s eyes on her back while it was exposed.

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Shaw turned back when she was done changing.

Root was getting under the covers already, looking sleepy. It was probably the drugs, Shaw got the impression her cellmate would’ve carried on flirting for longer if she wasn’t drugged out of her mind.

“So you are worried?” Root’s eyes were closed but she was smiling.

The lights turned off and Shaw rolled her eyes, “Never mind,”

She should really feel more concerned that she was getting less annoyed at Root’s flirting the more she did it.

“Goodnight, Sameen,” Root’s voice sounded drastically different on the verge of sleep, soft and sweet.

Shaw was too surprised by the shift to respond, instead she laid in silence and listened to Root’s breath even out, wondering how many people she’d killed.

Long after Root would’ve been able to hear her, Shaw whispered, “Goodnight,”


End file.
